Pocket or folding knife



Patented Jan. 6, 1931 PATENT FFEQE OTTO ALTENBACI-I, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA POCKET OR FOLDING KNIFE Application. filed April 26, 1927, Serial No. 186,703, and in Great Britain December 6, 1927.

This invention relates to cutlery, and especially to pocket or folding knives, in which a spring is used to hold a folding blade in either of its two positions.

It is common, in such knives to provide folding tools, such as files, chisels, screwdrivers or the like. However, such tools have been found to be impractical, for no substantial force can be exerted with them,

the pivot pin for permitting the tool to fold being too weak usually to withstand the bending or shearing stress.

It is one of the objects of my invention to combine a tool, such as a wrench or screw- 1 driver, or both, with a folding knife that is capable of withstanding considerable use or abuse.

It is another object of my invention to utilize, for these supplementary tools, an inte- Ygral extension of the blade spring used in folding knives to hold the blade in closed or in open position.

My invention possesses many other advantages, and has other objects which may be made more easily apparent from a consideration of one embodiment of my invention. For this purpose I have shown a form in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the present specification. I shall now proceed to describe this form in detail, which illustrates the general principles of my invention; but it is to be understood that this detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the scope of my invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a pocketknife embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view taken from the bottom of Fig. 3 is an end view of the knife;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but in which one of the handle grips has been removed in order to disclose the structure more clearly; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of another form of tool.

In the present instance, I show a singlebladed folding or pocket knife, having a blade 11 of the usual form. This blade is shown as provided with the usual squared portion 12 through which the pivot pin 13 passes. This pin also serves as one of the fastening rivets for holding the handles or grips 14 and 15 together. These grips can be made from metal, or other appropriate material, and maybe nurled as indicated in Fig. 1 to provide a good grip.

The handle portions 14 and 15 are kept separated to permit entry of blade 11 be 69 tween them by a spring 16 through which several rivets 17, 18 pass to hold the handles 14, 15 and spring 16 together. The spring 16 also defines the end wall 19 and bottom wall 20 of the groove or slot in which the knife blade 11 rests in folded position. Its free extremity acts, when the blade 11 is in the closed position, against the surface 21 of extension 12; and when the blade is opened, the free extremity acts against surface 22 and shoulder 23 of the blade to hold it in open position.

It is possible to form a tool 24 at that ex tremity of the handle which is remote from the blade pivot 13. This tool can be integral with the handles 14, 15, or with spring 16. In this instance it is shown as integral with the spring 16. This tool 24 further shown as a generally semicircular device, serrated to form a plurality of substantially flat blades 25, 26, and 27, and notches that can serve as wrenches. However, it can take a smooth curved form, as at 29, Fig. 5. The tool 24 can be slightly concave on either or both sides, as shown in Fig. 3; and it can taper toward the end, as shown in Fl 2. The tool 24 preferably extends lengthwise of the handies 14 and 15. Thus the knife when closed can be used as a handle for the tool 24; this tool can be used as a prying tool, or as a screw-driver, either of the blades 25, 26, and 27 being capable of use in this manner. Of course other types of tool could be used instead of that shown. In fact, an aperture such as 28 can be incorporated in the flat 53 portion of the tool to provide av wrench; it can also be used for attaching a chain or the like to the knife.

I claim:

A spring mounting handle structure of pocket knife type and tool combination, com prising a pair of handle members, a spring metal plate located between the handle membersand spacing them apart, and forming with the handle members, a groove and a closure for one end of said groove, and a short, rigid and integral extension of said plate substantially coplanar therewith projecting beyond said handle members, said extension being substantially the width of the handle, and being shaped into such tool or tools as its proportional width and thickness,

as determined by the width of the handle and of the grooves, make appropriate.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. a V

, OTTO AZL'ICENBIXCH. 

